BIG TIME Build log! - Page 3

Unavailable · #21 07-02-2011, 01:37 AM

I am really excited to see how it turns out!
I think you should put a newt or salamander in there because it would match perfectly with the environment!
Another suggestion- Maybe guppies in the water because they are very easy to care for and beautiful!

raymondsmindjob · #22 07-07-2011, 01:02 AM

First here are a few pics from 4 or 5 days ago. At this point I painted the great stuff I used to fill in the cracks, then let that dry and used more brown silicone and jungle bed substrate to completely blend these seams into the rest of the background.
In the first pic you will see the whole finished background, and the second pic shows a close-up of one of the seams. Worked out really nicely, you cant even tell a gap ever existed.

raymondsmindjob · #23 07-07-2011, 01:16 AM

After waiting 24 hours for the silicone to dry I again vacuumed out the tank to get the losse dirt that had fallen and I also vacuumed the background on final time.
Then it was time for the exciting stuff, time to start planting!

The bad news was that I let my plants sit in a windowsill for about a week while setting up the tank, and even though I had been watering them, the moneywart plant starting wilting. That was a real shame I actually liked it the best and it was the last one they had at Lowes. Did what I could with it and got my Mondo Grass and Japanese Spurge planted as well.
All of this was done after I finished my closing shift at work (I manage at an Applebees) around 4AM on Saturday.
For Substrate I used eco earth (the kind that comes in a brick) and a generic version labeled forest substrate. Got both of these at Petsmart. Into these I mixed some Flourite planted fish tank substrate. This makes a great pet safe fertilizer.
The next night I set up the substrate for the aquatic portion of the tank, first I put down a layer of the rest of my flourite, then I had a little bit of like 5 different fish tank gravels that I mixed together and put that down, and finially I topped it with a layer of larger fish tank gravel that had the color scheme I was looking for. I believe it was labeled course aquarium gravel or something like that. I only bought a small bag of it since it was just a topper and I didn't want any aquatic plants struggling to much to fight through the gravel.
....splitting up this post so I don't time out....

raymondsmindjob · #24 07-07-2011, 01:37 AM

After I filled the tank with water, I ran into a HUGE problem. I hooked up my pump to the tubing for my water feature and plugged it in, and nothing came out of the waterfall, not one drop. I had tested the pump a few days before, so the problem had to be something else.
Then I realized what happened, the waterfall tube got plugged up with great stuff! You see, I learned from a past mistake a few months ago that if you run the tubing to exit of the waterfall, the water will project itself father than you anticipate, often with great velocity based on the waterpump you are using. So for all my projects I build a ltlle chamber out of foam or a plastic bowl of something to allow the water to pool up and pour out to help control the flow of the water. Then I learned that if you only use silicone to attach the tubing inside the water chamber, as soon as you remove the pump you will probably pull the tube completely out of the water chamber and ruin your whole project (at least that is what happened to me) SO I have been using a little great stuff inside the chambers and around the bottom of the chambers to hold provide more support and leak resistance for the tubing inside the water features.
In this instance the great stuff expaned much more that I thought it would (happens) and completely clogged my water feature from the inside! ARRGH!

So I did a little surgery, I cut off the top of the chamber which was thankfully at the top of the background and shoved a coat hanger through the great stuff to allow water to flow! Sweeet, now my waterfall works.

Then more problems arose as the clat dragons head started leaking around its seal and the just fell off about 5 minutes later. SO I was having tons of difficulty at this point and went to bed ( this was after closing at work again on Sunday)

raymondsmindjob · #25 07-07-2011, 01:52 AM

So I tried to reattach the Dragon head to the waterfall after letting the whole area dry out for a day, but it weighed too much to attach without the background laying flat so...by by cool dragon head thingy.

I instead siliconed several more rocks to the background in the water feature area, and I am really pleased with the results, looks a lot more natural and I think it works out really nicely. It also made a better flowing look of the waterfall. Yea!

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, here are some pics!
First you can see a pic of my Whole tank filled and planted so far. The hanging plants are golden moneywart, the Japanese Spurge is at the top right hand side, and the Mondo grass is on either side of my water feature.
I have moss in a few spots on the background and covering about 1/2 of the main land portion of the tank. Also on the land is a cutting of some Pepermonia Japonica that I hoping takes off as well as a few wild plants that were growing in the moss I guess.
You may also notice a big green thing in the middle of the pic, as I decided to use the reptofilter to clean the water up a little, but it won't be a perminant addition to the tank.

Second Pic is a close up of the left side of the tank.

The third Pic is a close up of the right side of the tank.

Finially the last Picture is a close up of my waterfall.

I also have a Sacred water Lotus seed sprout I put in a small glass pot in the aquatic portion of the tank and 2 more lotus seeds soaking in hopes they sprout as well. Also in the works I have 3 Japanese Pagoda Trees germinating hopefully they will sprout. I will Bonsai one of these for the land portion of all goes well.

raymondsmindjob · #26 07-07-2011, 01:57 AM

Right now I have a clip on light with a floodlight bulb inside to keep the plants alive.
My misting system right now is a spray bottle, but I probably won't be installing a misting system for this tank. Yet again, I may install some sort of misting system or fogger at soem point in the future.

Next on my project list is a DIY lid for this tank, as I still am unable to find one that fits and looks the way I want it to. Stay tuned for that.

TrojanDylan · #27 07-07-2011, 11:48 PM

Looks really good! For animals I think that a couple newts with guppies and maybe tree frogs would work well. Looking forward to more updates

raymondsmindjob · #28 07-13-2011, 05:17 AM

So I defiantely have to DIY a lid for this tank, as I have searched EVRYWHERE online and they just don't make one for this wierd old aquarium. No wonder I got it and the stand on craigslist for $80 (they even delivered it to my house).
Bought the wood I need and set it up with a buddy of mine at work who has all the powertools I need to build the lid on Tuesday.
I will post pics when its built.

raymondsmindjob · #29 09-06-2011, 03:33 PM

So here is a photo of one of the lids I made for this tank. HAd 2 build 2 identical lids.
To build this I used some wood planks that measured 48" long, 1 in wide, and 1/4 in thick. I built a frame from these. Then I cut out a piece of plywood to fix the frame and serve as a lid, then I attached a hinge to the back so the whole lid opens.
Used a jigsaw to cut out holes for the light fixtures, which are marineland LED fixtures I got at petsmart. They were kind of expensive but they dont emit heat and they are supposed to last for 8-10 years.
Varnished and sealed the lids, then I used silicone to attach the light fixtures and seal any gaps around them. Drilled holes in the lid for ventilation. Pretty simple to build.
More updates soon, have the pics but no more time to post right now.

raymondsmindjob · #30 09-07-2011, 04:42 AM

So here are a few pics of my Paludarium a few months into the plant growth.
The moss I picked was dying off and my golden moneywart also died.
But that was OK as I was going for an asian theme to begin with so I bought some creeping fig which is really taking over to plant in the pots on the background, I also bought some kyoto moss spores and some japanese mountain moss spores and I just now seeing some moss starting to grow in a few tiny spots. Also added some bamboo for obvious reasons.
If you look really closely at these picks you might be able to see my tanks first inhabitants, 2 fire bellied toads. They love to hide right on the waters edge behind the creeping fig vines.
Anyway let me know what you think and if you of any good asian aquatic plants